Abstract
Background
Online video is increasingly becoming a key source for people to satisfy their information needs. YouTube is one of the post popular websites used for information exchange, with more than one billion unique visitors every month.
Questions/purposes
In an attempt to participate in personal health decisions related to hip arthritis, patients may access YouTube for further information. As YouTube is a non peer-reviewed platform and little is known about the quality of available videos. We therefore asked the following research questions: (1) What is the information quality of YouTube videos related to the diagnosis of hip arthritis and (2) what information for the treatment of hip arthritis can be found on YouTube?
Methods
YouTube search was performed on December 23, 2014 for videos related to the diagnosis and the treatment of hip arthritis. The following search terms were used: (1) hip arthritis, (2) hip arthritis symptoms, (3) hip arthritis diagnosis, (4) hip arthritis treatment and (5) hip replacement. After exclusion of videos that did not meet the inclusion criteria, 133 videos were analyzed. In order to qualitatively assess the YouTube video content for to the diagnosis and the treatment of hip arthritis, two new grading systems with a scale of 0 to 12 points were developed. Videos were grouped into poor quality (grade 0–3), moderate quality (grade 4–7) and excellent quality (grade 8–12), respectively. Videos were categorized into the following: educational-physician, educational- non physician, commercial, technique, personal testimony or other.
Results
The vast majority of YouTube videos lack essential information for an appropriate diagnosis of hip arthritis. Eighty-four percent (n=112) were graded as being of poor quality, 14 percent (n=19) of moderate quality and only 2 percent (n=2) of excellent quality, respectively. The information quality of educational-physician videos for the diagnosis of hip arthritis was significantly higher (p < 0.001) than for educational-non physician videos.
YouTube is a poor information source for the treatment of hip arthritis. In 86 percent (n=114), videos provided poor information quality. Eleven percent (n=15) of videos had a moderate quality and only 3 percent (n=4) an excellent quality, respectively. The quality of information for the treatment of hip arthritis was significantly higher (p = 0.005) than the quality of information for the diagnosis of hip arthritis.
Conclusions
The present review of YouTube video material demonstrates that hip arthritis diagnosis and treatment information is overall insufficient. The exchange of video-based information is going to grow rapidly within the next years and videos going to become the primary source of information. The medical community should take chance of the opportunity the define gold standards for comprehensive and innovative evidence-based educational videos addressing the diagnosis and treatment of hip arthritis.
